Tense vowels

Tense vowels can sound slightly different depending on whether or not they are accented. Most of the following examples are divided into accented and unaccented sounds for this reason. Notice in many of the words that end in a vowel, the final sound is a glottal stop[ ʔ ].

Tense II

II can be longer or shorter in duration. Longer [ iː ] sounds like the first vowel in eat. Shorter [ i ] sounds like the first vowel in eaten.

Tense AA

AA has a range of pronunciations. In most cases, it sounds more like [ a ] — the vowel in the French pronunciation of papa. To an English speaker, this vowel might sound a bit more like [ æ ] (the sound in ash). In most of the following examples, it is difficult to tell if the AA is long or short in duration.

Tense WAA

After a consonant, WAA sounds like [ ɔ ] or [ ɒ ]. Because of the way it is pronounced, you can sometimes hear a short [ ʷ ] sound right before the vowel. The vowel WAA can be long or short in duration.

The sounds [ ɔ ] and [ ɒ ] are similar to the O in a New Yorker’s pronunciation of coffee, or similar to the Received (Queen’s English) Pronunciation of words like raw and law. To make this sound, make an ‘aaaaah’ [ ɑ ] sound and simultaneously round your lips (as you would do in order to say an ‘oo’ [ u ] sound.) Do not move your tongue from the [ ɑ ] position when you round your lips.

If a [ w ] sound comes after this vowel, the vowel is pronounced as [ ɔːw ] or [ ʷɔːw ], except before [ m ], where it sounds like [ ɔ ] or [ ɔː ]. (To an English speaker, the vowel would sound a lot like [ ow ] or [ ʷow ].)